Walter H. Barefoot
Walt Barefoot started defending workers’ compensation claims in 1991, and has been doing it ever since. His practice began by defending carriers and employers in the assigned risk pool for workers’ compensation insurance coverage in South Carolina. Handling this work gave Walt substantial experience quickly. His practice grew from managing assigned risk type claims to claims in the regular workers’ compensation insurance market, and then in the self-insured market. He currently works with all types of claims, large and small.
Walt regularly tries cases in the single commissioner hearings and in appeals to the Full Workers’ Compensation Commission. He has also tried several cases before the South Carolina Court of Appeals. As a result of his experience in workers’ compensation claims, Walt has a good knowledge of how a claim works. He also has a great deal of experience with the medical providers in the Pee Dee area of South Carolina, and can help direct defendants to the providers who are likely to provide the best and most efficient care for their injured workers.
Walt was born and raised in Florence, S.C. He is active in firm management, serving as managing shareholder of the Florence office. He is also a community leader, serving on the executive board of the Pee Dee Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. He is married with two young children, and enjoys spending time with his family on trips whenever they can get away.
“I tell my clients it is their case I am handling, but it is my backyard where the action happens. Together we can make a difference.”
Representative Matters
- Represented an uninsured employer in a case where the claimant alleged brain damage as a result of an aggravation of a pre-existing brain abnormality. The case would have resulted in an award of lifetime benefits. However, after a thorough discovery process and an appeal to the Full Workers’ Compensation Commission, it was ruled that the claimant did not have a physical brain injury and the claim was resolved for a much lower cost to the employer.
- Defended a case where the claimant alleged either an injury or an occupational disease as a result of exposure to mold in the workplace. By studying the science, and deposing the appropriate doctors, Walt built a case showing that it was almost impossible to say where the claimant’s mold exposure occurred. The case was denied.